Just Coincidence
by twilight09
Summary: Thump, Thump' That was all she could hear, and it was driving her insane. Maybe all she needed was to get away for a bit. Oneshot. JE. Complete.


Hi guys, this my first POC story, its also my first one-shot, so lots of first for this story. I hope you guys like it, and please forgive any mistakes that I may have made.

Disclaimer: Do not own POC.

* * *

She was tired. She was tired of wanting, and waiting to be loved. She didn't just want to be loved once a day, every ten years. It was torture, and to make things worse, all she could hear was that bloody heart going _thump, thump, thump_. To think that she had actually thought that when Will gave her his heart it was romantic. When she heard those words about his heart always being hers and that she should keep it safe for him she had melted inside. Now all it is to her is a nuisance, it reminded her of what she could have had, and now she can't. Not only that but she was lonely, after she moved back to Port Royal she found that she did not recognize a single person, and that pained her.

_Thump, thump_.

Elizabeth turned towards the heart. She picked it up, raised her arms, and made the motion of throwing it. However, she didn't let it go. After all it was Will's heart, and even though he wasn't with her, he was alive. _'He might as well be dead to me,'_ she thought. She was charged with watching over his heart and she would make sure no harm came to it.

She spent her days imagining that he was here with her spending their time together talking, laughing, and giving each other gentle kisses. Sometimes it seemed so real for her, but then she started to realize that in these day dreams she could no longer picture his face. She was slowly going insane, and she was aware of it, but she didn't know what she could to change it.

She needed to get out, smell the air, and be free once again. Free like when she was on the Pearl. She had never felt more alive than when she was on the Pearl, when she was surrounded by the sea. She rarely ever want by the sea anymore it reminded her too much of the past. What she really wanted was to be free was from that heart, it was nothing but a burden. It pained her to say it, but that was the truth. This however by no means meant that she doesn't love Will anymore, but she just wanted to stop hearing that annoying thump, thump. _'Did he really expect me to live this way? To wait for him, wait to see him every ten years? To be a faithful little wife when he wasn't even around?'_ She thought.

She was thinking treacherous thoughts, she needed to stop. Maybe all she needed was to get away from Port Royal. _'But where to go?' _she mused. After a few seconds she finally came to a conclusion, she would go to Tortuga. It was the perfect place, it was lively, crowded, and she knew it well enough to get around. It was the perfect place for her to have fun, and yet not be questioned by anyone.

'_But what to do with that heart.'_ She couldn't possibly take it with her, who knows what might happen to it then. Her only choice would be to leave it, but it would have to be hidden. _'Where to hide it?' _Suddenly she remembered the caves she used to play in as a child. They were far enough from the town that not many people would go by them, but there was still the slight chance that someone might go in there, however it would be okay because she would bury the heart under the sand, and soil.

She set about her task which was locating, and burying the heart. It took more energy out of her than she had expected but she was so exhilarated when she was no longer able to hear that horrible thumping noise that she didn't mind.

Once she got to her small room she went around the room like a madwoman trying to gather her few possessions and clothes that she would need for the small vacation. (A/N: Her room is more like a small one bedroom apartment she has a small kitchen, and living room, but I don't think they had those back then so it's going to be her room.)

She figured that no ship would want a woman so she would dress as a man. She was glad that she had saved the clothing that she had worn on the Pearl. She changed into the clothes and proceeded to make her way to the docks. Finding a ship took longer than she had expected. No one seemed to want to head to Tortuga now that the East India Trading Company was pretty much destroyed.

Finally after about two hours of searching she found a ship that was sailing to Tortuga. The trip there was unbearable. The crew was disgusting, they reeked and she wanted to vomit every time she smelled them, and they ate like pigs, and left their trash everywhere. _'Honestly, even pirates are cleaner, and smell better,'_ she thought.

She was glad when they finally made port. Of course the thought that she might come across a certain unnervingly handsome pirate never crossed her mind, for after all it was just coincidence that she chose Tortuga for her vacation.

Once she was off the ship she made her way to the local tavern for she was in need of drink after the trip she had. She got there and ordered a pint of rum. This reminded her of the times when she had actually drunk alcohol, and both times were with Jack. Just as she thought this she spotted none other than Mr. Captain Jack Sparrow himself. _'What a coincidence, I was just thinking about him, and now he's here,'_ She thought. She made her way over to him, and you could tell by looking in her eyes that she was pleased to see him.

"Hello Jack,' Elizabeth said.

Unfortunately Jack did not recognize her voice and he had had too much rum to be able to tell who it was, all he saw was a blurry shape.

He looked up at her and said, "Who is that?"

"It's me Elizabeth, are you alright Jack?" she responded.

"Lizzie you say, are you not supposed to be with your whelp, Willy, Wally or something or other?" He couldn't believe his ears. Here was Elizabeth but what about Will? Was she not married, did she not have to protect his heart, or something along those lines. His thoughts and memories were buzzing inside his head and he couldn't straighten them out.

"Oh, Jack you know perfectly well that his name is Will, and he's pioneering the Dutchman, since he got stabbed by Davy Jones. You should know since you took his hand and stabbed he heart." She said with tears in her eyes. She had thought that she had lost Will forever in that moment.

"Do I, did I, I don't recall any of this luv."

"Jack how much rum have you drank?"

Jack tried to count how many he had drank using his fingers, unfortunately he had too many and he gave up trying to count on his fingers. So he said, "Too many to count, luv."

"Come on then, we need to go, and stop drinking that rum." She said as she grabbed the bottle of rum that was poised at the Captains lips.

"Give me back my rum, you always take or burn my rum, and I want it back this instant." He said sounding like a little kid who gets his favorite toy or candy taken away from him.

Elizabeth couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. "I will give you back your precious rum if you come with me to the inn." Grudgingly Jack stood up and followed the young woman to the inn where she promptly got a room. She led the pirate up to her room. No one even looked at her with a disapproving glance, for this was Tortuga and they didn't care if she brought a man to her room that was not her husband.

Once they got to the room Elizabeth handed Jack back his rum, which he took and quickly chugged the rest. He sat on the bed, looked at Elizabeth, and then passed out.

Elizabeth once again rolled her eyes, and sat on chair reading a book that she had brought along with her. She would read until he woke up again.

Jack opened his eyes wearily, he was afraid or what he might see. What he did see in fact was Elizabeth staring back at him. His eyes widened in surprise. _'When did she get here, and where am I?'_ Jack thought.

"Finally! You're awake, it took you long enough honestly!" Jack however did not reply right away, he was still trying to gather his bearings, and he was failing miserably. He said the first thing that came to his mind, "Why are you here and where are we?"

"Vacation, and as for where we are we, are at the local inn, I took you away from the tavern since you had drunk too much rum for your own good." She responded. "Why are you here?" she said as an afterthought.

"Funny place to have a vacation, don't you think, and you can never have too much rum," he responded, although he knew the latter part was a lie, since he was nursing a pounding headache.

"I only know three places well enough to go by myself and that is Tortuga, England, and Port Royal, and as I live in Port Royal I cannot take a vacation there. Tortuga was the perfect choice since no one here asks questions, and it's lively. Anyway Jack you still haven't answered my question, what are **you**doing here?"

"Yes well I can see how would that limit your choice, speaking of by yourself should you not be accompanied by a certain someone's thumping heart?"

"Yes that well I buried it, it should be safe as I don't plan on staying long, I am only here for a couple of days." She responded noticing once again that he had not answered her question so she asked again.

"Do you honestly have to ask, luv?" he replied with a smirk.

"Of course, your precious rum, how could I forget?"

"So tell me, what have you been up to these last two years, Captain Jack Sparrow?" Jack couldn't help but notice how nice his name sounded when it came from Elizabeth's lips.

"Just been trying to find the fountain of youth."

"That's all you've done these last two years?"

"No, well you see, Barbossa took my ship again and left me here, by the time I got my ship back and got the supplies, already eight months had passed. From there we went on to find it, but we ran out of rum last week, and we decided to head back to Tortuga." He said a bit embarrassed at the fact that Barbossa had stolen his ship again, it was the third time he had sailed away with this ship.

"Oh, I see I'm sorry you lost the Pearl but now you have it back."

"Yes, and what have you been up to Lizzie."

"Well I live in Port Royal as I stated. There I live in small room, and I tutor children as a living, and of course I take care of Will's heart."

_'Is this what my spirited Lizzie has been doing?' _It was a shame, he could see these two years had dragged on for her, you could see it in her eyes, they were dull and no longer held the same fire that he had seen there two years ago. That fire was slowly extinguishing, and it would soon cease to exist if she kept living the way she was. It was a good thing that she had come for a vacation then.

"Want to go for a walk luv?"

"Yes, just let me change into something else." He nodded and walked out the door so that she could change. After about five minutes, Elizabeth came out wearing a simple dress, but it still looked lovely on her. They spent their time talking and reminiscing on all of the things that happened but not once they talk about what happened to Will or that time when they kissed.

That moment was burned in Jack's mind, and he had enjoyed it for that brief moment and he still sometimes thought about it, and what it would be like to be with Elizabeth.

They ended up at the same tavern Elizabeth had found him, and they ordered a couple of rounds of rum. They were thoroughly intoxicated by the time they left to go to the inn. They were laughing the whole way. They didn't even notice that they were already outside of Elizabeth's door. Eventually they noticed and they stopped laughing.

"Well thanks for walking me back, I had a great time talking about the old times." She said looking straight into those kohl rimmed eyes that she loved so much.

"No problem at all." He said while getting closer to her. He needed to know what it would feel like to kiss her again, so he impulsively leaned in and kissed her. Elizabeth was so shocked that she stood still but after a few seconds she melted into the kiss. He licked her bottom lip asking for permission which she granted. Eventually they needed to part so that they could breath.

"Come sail with me?" he asked her, his voice ragged from the lack of oxygen.

"I can't I have to take care of Will's heart, and we shouldn't have even kissed its wrong."

"You know you can't live your life like that waiting to be with him every ten years for just one day. You want to be free, and loved, you shouldn't be burdened with that heart." He said seriously, he wasn't about to joke around now like he would usually, this was important. "He can't love you Lizzie, but I can! I can take care of you and let you be free; we can sail around the world on the Pearl."

"Stop, stop saying those things." She quickly ran into her room and locked the door.

"You know where to find me, if you change your mind," he said sadly. He hoped that she would change her mind, or his heart might break. (A/N: aww poor Jack :'( he got rejected.)

Elizabeth threw herself on the bed and cried herself to sleep. She woke up in the morning and she still didn't know what to do. She had felt something when she had kissed Jack, but she loved Will. Didn't she? So why did it feel so good when she kissed Jack and why had his words hurt her so much if she did love Will. The worst part was that he was right, she had known what he was saying was true, and she hated herself for it, she was supposed to stay loyal to Will. She picked herself of the bed with her resolution in mind.

Jack was back on the Pearl getting ready to set sail soon, he had just ordered Mr. Gibbs to take inventory of the rum when he saw her.

"Jack, Jack." She yelled as she ran into his waiting arms. She hugged him fiercely.

"I was hoping you would come, luv."

"What if I hadn't, because I wasn't going to at first?"

"Well I am glad that you did, otherwise I would have been heartbroken," he replied in all honesty.

"Oh, Jack" she said, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

He kissed her gently to which she responded, but she pulled away after a few moments. He looked at her with a questioning glance.

"We have to get Will's heart, and find Will. We have to give back his heart, and tell him about us," she said.

"Of course," he said, "We should leave right away."

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack yelled.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Set sail for Port Royal straight away."

"Yes, Captain."

Elizabeth smiled at him and told him thanks.

"You don't have to say thanks Lizzie, I would do anything for you," he said. She blushed slightly but smiled wider.

They got to Port Royal and Elizabeth got the heart, from there they followed any rumors of where the Flying Dutchman might be. After a year they were finally able to locate it.

"Elizabeth?" asked Will. He couldn't believe his eyes, there was his love Elizabeth, but why was she on the Pearl, with Jack?

"Hello Will," she responded coolly.

"Jack?"

"William," he acknowledged.

It was then that Will noticed that Elizabeth was holding Will's heart. He knew what that meant, she didn't need to tell him, but he still wanted to hear it from her lips.

"Will, I can't take care of you heart anymore, I can't live like that. I tried, I tried for two years and I was miserable. I wanted to be with you, but you couldn't be with me, and then I went to Tortuga and I met Jack and well we kissed and I felt something and I knew then that even though I loved you, I needed to be with someone who could love me back." She rambled.

"I love you," he said quietly.

"Yes, but you can't be with me but every ten years, and that just doesn't work, I deserve to have a life don't you think?"

"Your right, I should have known better," he said. He took the chest from her hands and handed it to his father who was by his side.

"I'm sorry Will, I really am, but I'm in love with Jack. I still love you though." She said.

"I can't forgive you, but I do want you to be happy." With that he turned around and told his crew to sail away. He didn't want to see Elizabeth's or Jack's face anymore, they had betrayed him, and he would never forgive them.

Elizabeth cried when she saw how he reacted, and she felt guilty for hurting him like that. She should have tried harder, she should have stayed true to him. As if Jack had read her thoughts he said, "Don't blame yourself Lizzie, it couldn't be helped, you deserve to be happy." He said.

She nodded but did not respond.

"How bout we go look for that fountain now, eh?" he asked. She looked up at him, rolled her eyes, and smiled.

"Yes, Jack, but I don't think we are going to find, and even if we did, do you really want immortality?"

"How could you ask such thing, of course I do Lizzie." He replied with a smirk. With that said they headed off to find the fountain of youth.

Please Review, I would appreciate it alot.


End file.
